Clay’s Wedgewood Blue FB Ute

[rosco]

You did a much better job of it than I would have, Clay - I bet there are a lot of people on here who would love to have a left guard like you've now got..... please keep posting pix of progress on this guard.... lots of people watching - including me.... love the way that tool worked, much much better than trying to put a joiner on the underside and grind it back.

frats,
Rosco

[Errol62]

Thanks Rosco. I am no expert but don’t mind having a go. This is a great medium for documenting my build, getting advice and inspiration, and maybe giving a few ideas to others.
Cheers
Clay


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

[Errol62]

Might have to cut the join in the guard lip and butt weld that bit, very slowly and patiently, with plenty of cooling. Otherwise I see a world of pain trying to get it tidy with filler.


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

[FireKraka]

Very nice mister Clay love that new tool of yours
Neil

[Errol62]

Found a can of worms in the guard lip. This is the original guard from the Ute. The doors are perfect and sills pretty good. It's like the guards did all the rusting.

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[EK283]

Hi Clay,

I removed the whole piece from the guard, reconditioned them then welded them back in place !!!

These old cars rust every where.

Regards Greg

[Errol62]

I’m cutting a few corners on this car really. Greg. What I’ve done is cut out serious rust, remove any scale, prize up lip between spots, clean and flood Ranex in there so it runs through into the guard. I’m fairly confident all the rust is neutralised and will seal it up thoroughly with metalfix and Epotec 2k. Re doing the guards and sills will give me something to do when the van is on the road lol.


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

[rosco]

Found a can of worms in the guard lip.

This is where I first found rust in mine too, Clay..... in 1972... not long after I brought the old bus home.
It was only just breaking the surface when I found it, and fortunately it was only in a small part of that joint.
I scraped and sanded as much of it out as I could, which eventuated as a hole through the outer skin..... it was only a hole about the size of a 1c piece.. but, a hole just the same.
I went to Bill Patterson motors, Ringwood to get Dulon paint and bought a "whole" litre (not sure if it was still imperial quantity back then).
I was told that I could "brush" this paint on and sand it back with fine wet and dry.... which I did .

I bought some Spartan paints "Foscote RS-1" which neutralised the rust.

The hole I simply filled with paint.... many coats.. lots and lots of paint.

I am happy to say - that repair has lasted all this time.. there has been no sign of it showing through.

It was timely, because not only did I find that issue - but I started looking for others - and found huge amounts of crud above the headlights in the hooded covers ... which I removed... there was damage in both of them, but it was only surface... I sanded both of them out and painted in the Foscote... then painted it with "Killrust" enamel..... it was gold colour ... all the hardware store had left in aerosol... I sprayed the entire can into the left and right hooded headlight covers.... in 1972....
it has had numerous coats of many different paints applied over that since.. I probably have the best original front fenders of any FB or EK Holden on the road today....
The only issue in the right fender is that at some time before I owned the car, the car had "nudged" something with the front right bumper - and it had "bowed" it out at the front panel joint. This is evidenced in the original colour pix at the start of my thread.

Yes, Clay - I would seriously suggest anyone with these models should take a good look at that wheel-arch joint where the strengthening bracket is spot welded to the fender.... it's a haven for collecting crud... and will rust.

frats,
Rosco

[Errol62]

Inside of the guard is well and truly preserved with two costs of metal fix, after first washing and rinsing with floor prep 100, and pre rusting the new steel. Steve says the floorprep is no longer available due to reclassified dangerous for transport. And it is nowhere near as toxic as the truckstream degrease. Metal fix needs surface rust to bond to steel.

Anyway, I digress. Sloshed metalfix right around the headlight bucket. No water getting in there. I'm getting cavity wax for my realigned tailgate and thinking of using it in the guard corners etc, now they all sealed up. Thoughts on using cavity wax in this application, overkill, won't last?

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[Errol62]

Metal fix doesn't like wax and grease remover, hence I use the floorprep. Discovered today that Metal fix cleans up with wax and grease remover, which is handy. If e been using water until now with limited success.

Th ee fun ha as begun 8(

Beats assembling IKEA shit at least 8)8)

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[gpi]

...asking for a friend...how do you tell what needs straightening?

[mph]

Nice one

[EK283]

Great stuff Clay,

I prefer the artificial fish oil, it dries hard after a few days and really gets in any nook and cranny !!!!

gpi asked ...asking for a friend...how do you tell what needs straightening?

Feel, eyes and a straight edge , and after that guide coat and a lots of rubbing !!!!

Regards Greg

[Errol62]

I think gpi is having a lend of us hey Patrick? He knows the drill.

Hands eyes and straightedge yes. Taking the old paint off with strip disc gives me a first impression. Dry rubbing and feathering the bog starts sowing up the low spots. Reckon if ed been over the panel at least a dozen times by the end, cleaning before each application of filler. In the end yo uh know every wee bump.

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[Errol62]

$*#@ I hate this Samsung

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